I get it. Watching your list grow is amazing. Tens, hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of people want to hear from you.
They want your emails, blog posts… and even your products.
Well, not all of them.
Some subscribers are “freebie-seekers.” They want your lead magnet and nothing else.
Others lost interest. They read some of your emails, and don’t like your opinions.
Nothing wrong with these people. But they shouldn’t be on your list. They’re costing you money and weighing down your email metrics, hurting deliverability.
Most of all — too many unengaged subscribers could weaken your motivation. Lower opens, clicks, and conversions could make you feel worse at email marketing than you actually are.
(Trust me. I’ve had the same experience before).
This is why you need to clean your list of unengaged subscribers, aka “dead leads” — and that’s where a Sunset Sequence comes in.
Read my full guide to the Sunset Sequence below.
Understanding the Sunset Sequence
Defining Sunset… or “Unengaged”
An unengaged subscriber, in a strictly email marketing sense, has not interacted with your emails in any way over a particular timeframe. That means no opens, clickthroughs, or replies.
However, you can expand unengaged to encompass purchases and even visiting your site. This is more along the lines of “engagement” for an Active on Site Flow, but it may also work for sunsetting purposes.
Goals and Role
The Sunset Sequence cleans your list of unengaged leads to ensure you only mail people who want to hear from you. It also gives “on-the-verge-of-unengaged” customers a chance to stay on your list.
How the Sunset Sequence Helps Your Business
The Sunset Sequence helps your business in several ways:
- Reduces costs: Some ESPs charge for email and/or SMS send volume or list size. Thus, emailing “dead” leads throws money in the trash. Cleaning your list with a sunset flow ensures you’re only paying for customers likely to buy.
- Improves deliverability: Cleaning off inactive subscribers improves opens, clicks, and other forms of engagement. That makes your stats look better and
- Scoop up a few sales: When structured right, a sunset flow could nab a few sales while re-engaging inactive leads. This is especially true if you toss them a discount.
- Segmentation: Sunset emails may offer opportunities to gather information regarding what a customer wants to hear about.
The Key Components of the Sunset Sequence
Sunset flows shouldn’t be too long since you’re targeting inactive subscribers. Keep it to three emails maximum.
Let’s look at what to do in each email:
A Goodbye Email
This email informs the recipient that you will soon remove them from your email list.
Subject Line
The Goodbye Email needs to grab the attention while staying on theme. You can get funny with this one. Here are some ideas:
- “is this goodbye?”
- “So… are we over?”
- “Are we breaking up?”
You could even spin some of these question-style subject lines into the declarative:
- “This is goodbye, [firstname].”
- “We’re done, [firstname]”
- “I’m breaking up with you”
This will depend on your brand voice and list relationship.
Body Copy
Keep the copy short. Give the copy a bit of personality. Something like “We’re sad to see you go, but we get it if you don’t want to hear from us”.
Give them an unsubscribe button/link and another button/link where they can adjust their email preferences.
If they open the email, they engaged. So if they don’t voluntarily unsubscribe, they will go back into your engaged segment. There’s a good chance that if they didn’t click the big unsubscribe button, they’re fine with getting emails and will engage in the future.
A Discount Email
This email gives the customer a discount — usually with a tight deadline.
Subject Line
The subject line here should blend curiosity with the implication of a gift.
Here are some ideas:
- “A gift for you, [firstname]”
- “Want this, [firstname]?”
- “[Urgent] your account credit”
Body Copy
Very straightforward — Let them know about their limited-time discount.
Add a reason if possible. Can be as simple as “we added a limited-time account credit to your account” that they must use by tomorrow.
Updating the Profile Property
Add a block to update their profile property after the last email. Make that Update Profile Property block suppress their profile.
If the customer fails to engage with any Sunset Sequence emails for up to a few days after the last email, this block will automatically suppress their profile. This will stop them from receiving more emails from you.
Other Emails
These sequences should have no more than three emails. Depending on your flow’s structure, you could add a discount reminder one final time… or a “one final chance to stay on our list” type of thing.
SMS
SMS doesn’t really work for a generic sunset sequence. It just doesn’t seem like the right place for it.
That said, feel free to play around with SMS in this flow. Just because I haven’t used it, doesn’t mean you can’t.
Best Practices For the Sunset Sequence
Let’s look at some tips and best practices for each aspect of the Sunset Sequence:
Triggers and Filters
You can trigger this flow in one of two ways:
- Metrics: Unengaged for 90 days. That means 0 opens, clicks, orders, and, if you want, site visits in the last 90 days.
- Create a segment: The segment will have the same criteria, but it also helps you see in one place who your unengaged people are.
If you have a subscription-only offer, specify that customers enter this flow (or its segment) if they do not have a subscription active.
Finally, filter out anyone who has done one of these actions since starting the flow.
Time Delay
No need for a time delay at the start of the flow since this flow only sends after a long time of no engagement anyway.
Add a one-day time delay between each email. After the last email, add a time delay of two to three days before the flow suppresses the recipient for email.
This last time delay gives the recipient a chance to engage before they get cleaned off. For instance, if a customer was on vacation and was planning to respond after returning home.
Copy
The copy should be fairly short and use urgency to push the discount/re-engagement. If it fits your brand voice, add some funny quips about “breaking up” or a similar idea.
Give the reader a chance to update their preferences, and don’t hide the unsubscribe button. You’re emailing another human — they won’t appreciate sneaky little “tricks” like making it hard to unsubscribe.
On the other hand, they will appreciate it if you’re transparent and even encourage them to unsubscribe if they don’t want emails anymore.
Design
Keep the design to a minimum. The only design elements in this, if any, should be a company logo at the top, gifs/images for meme purposes, and perhaps a testimonial block.
Yet even then, a plain text email here can really grab the attention. It could come directly from the CEO or founder.
Also, don’t hide the unsubscribe button.
Other
You can switch the first two emails around if you want. Surprise them with a discount first, then catch their attention with the “goodbye” email.
Measuring Success for the Sunset Sequence
The Sunset Sequence is the easiest sequence to “succeed” with regarding its apparent goal. That goal is just to unsubscribe people. No persuasion is needed to get them to unsubscribe.
That said, think of unsubscribing as “Level 1”. You want to aim higher than that. Here are some other metrics that a rock-solid Sunset Sequence can impact:
Re-Engagement
Maybe a customer doesn’t buy. They might still re-engage at the very least. Study how they re-engage — opens, clicks, replies, etc.
Monitor their email preferences (if you allow them to update those in the flow) to better understand why certain unengaged customers become unengaged. See if there are patterns in unengaged customer purchase behavior.
How to improve: A/B test subject lines. A/B test copy. A/B test CTAs. A/B test email order (discount vs. goodbye email first).
Sales
Like I said, the Sunset Sequence will not be a moneymaker by any stretch. However, you will still include an offer in this flow, so you must monitor sales.
No need to frequently optimize this flow. But check on it occasionally and see if you can make it sell more.
How to improve: A/B test copy. A/B test offers. A/B test email order (discount vs. goodbye email first).
Sunset Sequence Pitfalls to Avoid
Watch out for these mistakes when crafting your Sunset Sequence:
Too Many Emails
Remember: These customers haven’t engaged with you in a while. If they haven’t opened an email in three months, and they don’t open your two or three Sunset Sequence emails…
They probably won’t open a fourth Sunset Sequence Email. You don’t want to waste too much time or harm your deliverability in an attempt to save one or two more customers. Your focus should be on the engaged list members.
No Benefit-Driven Urgency
The only thing that gets people off the couch (metaphorically speaking) to take action is urgency. Failing to sufficiently show the benefits they will lose in just a couple of days when unsubscribed will make this flow fall flat.
The urgency-requiring benefits here are the actual benefits of being on the list… and the discount you’re handing them.
Neglecting Mobile Optimization
Most people shop on smartphones. Bet that also goes for email. People’s phones are within reach through most of the day, whereas a computer is not.
This is especially crucial for customers who have more resistance to engaging with your content… like those who enter a Sunset Sequence.
So don’t ignore mobile optimization for your Sunset Sequence emails. Preview each email to see how subject lines, preview text, and copy look from a mobile perspective. Strike a balance between the mobile and desktop experience.
The Bottom Line on Sunset Sequences
The Sunset Sequence keeps your list “clean and healthy” by removing unengaged subscribers. This cuts email marketing costs while driving your metrics up. Plus, it offers more sales and segmentation opportunities.
Warn the customer that “this is goodbye” by pushing the urgency, reiterating the benefits of being on the list, and offering a discount. But keep this flow short. No need to try too hard to win back unengaged leads.
If most email flows are “24/7 automated salesman”, the Sunset Sequence is a “24/7 automated janitor.” Two to three quick emails, a discount code, and an “unsubscribe” action… and you’ll be on your way to a healthy, happy, and engaged list.
What to Do Next
- Implement this flow into your business if you don’t have it/Optimize your flow with insights from this post if you DO have it.
- Get on my email list using the signup form below.
- Share this post with someone who would find it helpful or insightful.
- Work with me if you want to earn more revenue, widen your margins, and improve retention through email and SMS… so you can quit worrying about acquisition.